BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - Nearly 2,000 people joined hands in a salty lake in Argentina on Monday (Jan 30), setting a new Guinness world record for the most people floating while connected.

Experts from the Guinness Book of Records certified that 1,941 people free-floated in a line simultaneously for 30 seconds in Lake Epecuen, south-east of Buenos Aires, according to a video published by local authorities.

The previous record was set in 2014 in Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan, when 650 people linked up using flotation aids.

In Lake Epecuen, participants broke the record completely unaided since the water's high saltiness made floats unnecessary, organisers said.